1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to energetic nanolaminate films and more particularly to electrical initiation of an energetic nanolaminate film.
2. State of Technology
U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,855 for a reactive multilayer foil with conductive and nonconductive final products issued Jan. 31, 2006 to Timothy P. Weihs et al and assigned to Johns Hopkins University provides the following state of technology information: “Reactive multilayer coatings are useful in a wide variety of applications requiring the generation of intense, controlled amounts of heat in a planar region. Such structures conventionally comprise a succession of substrate-supported coatings that, upon appropriate excitation, undergo an exothermic chemical reaction that spreads across the area covered by the layers generating precisely controlled amounts of heat. While we will describe these reactive coatings primarily as sources of heat for welding, soldering or brazing, they can also be used in other applications requiring controlled local generation of heat such as propulsion and ignition.”
United States Published Patent Application No. 2004/0234914 for a percussively ignited or electrically ignited self-contained heating unit and drug-supply unit employing same by Ron L. Hale et al and assigned to Alexza Molecular Delivery Corporation published Nov. 25, 2004 provides the following state of technology information: “Self-contained heat sources are employed in a wide-range of industries, from food industries for heating food and drink, to outdoor recreation industries for providing hand and foot warmers, to medical applications for inhalation devices. Many self-contained heating sources are based on either an exothermic chemical reaction or on ohmic heating. For example, self-heating units that produce heat by an exothermic chemical reaction often have at least two compartments, one for holding a heat-producing composition and one for holding an activating solution. The two compartments are separated by a frangible seal, that when broken allows mixing of the components to initiate an exothermic reaction to generate heat. This type of non-combustible, self-heating unit is suitable for heating food, drink, or cold toes and fingers, since the heat production is relatively mild.”
United States Published Patent Application No. 2005/0142495 for methods of controlling multilayer foil ignition by David Peter Van Heerden et al published Jun. 30, 2005 provides the following state of technology information: “Reactive multilayer foils are nanostructured materials typically fabricated by vapor depositing hundreds of nanoscale layers that alternate between elements with large, negative heats of mixing such as Ni and Al. Several different means have been employed for igniting self-propagating reactions (e.g., initiating the chemical transformation) in nanoscale multilayer foils. In some methods, impact of a sharp stylus initiates ignition, and in other ignition is started with a spark from an electrical source (examples of which are disclosed in an article by Ma et al. entitled “Self-propagating Explosive Reactions in Al/Ni Multilayer Thin Films” published in Applied Physics Letters, Volume 57, page 1262 in 1990 (“Ma”); an article by Reiss et al. entitled “Self-propagating Formation Reactions in Nb/Si Multilayers” published in Mat. Sci. and Eng. A., Volume A261, pages 217-222 in 1999; an article by van Heerden et al. entitled “Metastable Phase Formation and Microstructural Evolution during Self-Propagating Reactions in Al/Ni and Al/Monel Multilayers” published in Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proceedings, Volume 481, pages 533-8 in the Fall of 1997; and TMS, the entirety of all of which are incorporated herein by reference). Alternatively, the heat from a filament (examples of which are disclosed in an article by Anselmi-Tamburni et al. entitled “The Propagation of a Solid-State Combustion Wave in Ni—Al Foils” published in the Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 66, page 5039 in 1989; and an article by Dyer et al. entitled “The Combustion Synthesis of Multilayer NiAl Systems” published in Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia, Volume 30, page 1281 in 1994, the entirety of both of which are incorporated herein by reference), or laser radiation (examples of which are disclosed in an article by Wickersham et al. entitled “Explosive Crystallization in Zirconium/Silicon Multilayers” published in the J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, Volume 6, page 1699 in 1988 (“Wickersham”), the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference) may be used to start ignition.”